We like to talk about problems, do nothing about them, and when the problem gets worse, as we keep talking, we pretend that it is a new problem. It is going to be very difficult to get out of this habit because it is well rooted from the days of slavery.

Let us take for example the current drought which still has not been broken. I grew up hearing that we should do something about the Mona Reservoir because it was leaking. About five years ago, I bucked up something in a 1941 issue of Spotlight monthly news magazine by the late Evon Blake. He gave a history of the Mona Reservoir. It was originally constructed for irrigation purposes on the old Mona sugar estate. In 1939, the colonial governor Sir Arthur Richards purchased the Mona Reservoir space for the Crown with the intention of having an extended water supply for the Corporate Area as the Hermitage Dam was not enough. By 1941, Evon Blake was writing in his magazine that the Mona Reservoir was leaking. But every time the drought breaks we forget about the Mona Reservoir and its leak. And we forget that the silt cannot be taken out because of the leak, or so the story goes. But the main point here is that we prefer to talk about our problems rather than do something about it.

My accidental research bears this out. I did not set out in the beginning to research idle talk in Jamaica. But in researching other matters one is bound to buck up this matter since it is so much a part of the national psyche. Sometimes I photocopy something from an old newspaper or magazine, phone someone and ask him or her to guess when it was written. Many times they are way off. It is not just a pastime, although I enjoy doing it. I carefully choose who I phone because I want people to think about the problem of idle talk in Jamaica and help to come up with a solution.

The best news where water supply is concerned is that the St Elizabeth Parish Council has mandated that every household in St Elizabeth is to have some sort of catchment for rainwater. This will take the pressure off the parish council to truck water all over the place, which sends up costs for the gasoline, not to mention wages for the drivers, or rent to be paid to the companies that supplies the trucks.

At least, in this instance, politics has been positive, since the St Elizabeth Parish Council, like any local government council, or Parliament itself is made up of politicians. It is true that since 1944 when universal adult suffrage came in we have an added problem which is summarised in the word politics. It comes into just about everything in Jamaica.

The recent noise over the ‘leggo beast” statement and subsequent apology by the minister of education is another case in point, and there are others. We are, in fact, having a problem with parents who allow their children to become leggo beasts. The Government knows that and so does the Opposition. But an election is expected this year so the “leggo beast” statement is turned into a political football. I asked my brother Paul Burke if the People’s National Party had anything to do with the apology. He said not as far as he knew and he believed it was the decision of the minister, Ronald Thwaites, himself.

So I phoned the minister and he confirmed what Paul said: It was his decision and his decision alone. However, the term “leggo beast” also sparked discussion which is good. There are many people in Jamaica who have opined that there was no need for an apology from the minister. Still, I think the apology is most unfortunate, because it can give the erroneous impression that it is business as usual as far as “leggo beasts” in schools are concerned.

And then we will be back to square one, as we are with so many other things, including the whole matter of water supplies during drought. One could add, by extension, the matter of flooding during rain because of the amount of litter on the streets which backs the gullies during rains.

Regarding the “leggo beast” statement and the apology, I saw the published letter of Dr Anne Perkins in the Jamaica Observer and I agree wholeheartedly with her. Some of the students are leggo beasts, and it must be laid squarely on the table. I also saw Carolyn Cooper’s Sunday Gleaner column and I agree wholeheartedly with the sentiments, but not the headline. Thwaites has been too successful in all of his life endeavours to be labelled a coward.

Elections are in the air and politicians will be politicians. So any attempt to straighten out the characters of children at this time will be turned into a political football. And this would be true of any party in power anywhere in the democratic world. But the problem is that collective parenting in Jamaica is in quite a state of disrepair.

We have talked about the problem of children being born out of wedlock and being left to fend for themselves. Governments and other civic bodies over several decades have set up all sorts of organisations to deal with these problems. But many times they become nothing but talk shops. Yes, there are children’s homes and places of safety to deal with children who have no parents. But what have we done over the years to educate these children to ensure that they do not repeat the same mistake like a vicious circle.

While it is unfair to teachers for parents to impose on them their ill-bred children, the truth is that, as a nation, we do not have much choice. The schools are the only vehicles that can be turned into an alternate family for many children until we get the problem corrected. One other way to get the problem corrected is to speak directly to parents. And that is exactly what Education Minister Ronald Thwaites did.

ekrubm765@yahoo.com

mona dam.JPG

The Mona Reservoir

THWAITES…apologised on his own volition

PULL QUOTE

While it is unfair to teachers for parents to impose on them their ill-bred children, the truth is that, as a nation, we do not have much choice…One other way to get the problem corrected is to speak directly to parents. And that is exactly what Education Minister Ronald Thwaites did.